-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- It is about to get a bit more difficult to illegally download TV shows , movies or music online .

A new alert system , rolling out over the next two months , will repeatedly warn and possibly punish people violating digital copyrights . The Copyright Alert System was announced last July and has been four years in the making .

If you use AT&T , Cablevision , Comcast , Time Warner , or Verizon as your Internet service provider , you could receive the first of one of these notes starting in the next two months .

The Internet provider is delivering the message , but the legwork is being done by the copyright owners , which will monitor peer-to-peer networks such as BitTorrent .

They use a service called MarkMonitor , which uses a combination of people and automated systems to spot illegal downloading . It will collect the IP addresses of offenders , but no personal information . The IP addresses are turned over to the Internet providers , which will match up the address with the right customer and send the notification .

The warning system is described as a graduated response . First the Internet provider will let the customer know that their Internet connection is being used to download content illegally . The note will include information to steer them away from their life of crime , including tips on how they can download content legally .

There will also be tips on securing Internet connections , just in case you were unaware that your neighbor was downloading season three of `` Dexter '' using your unprotected wireless network .

`` The progressive series of alerts is designed to make consumers aware of activity that has occurred using their Internet accounts , educate them on how they can prevent such activity from happening again , '' the CCI said in its announcement today .

After the educational phase , the customers will be asked to acknowledge that they received the warning . If they continue to download content illegally , the alerts will threaten mild punishments , such as forcing the copyright violator to read `` educational materials , '' or throttling their Internet connection so that it is slow , making it harder to download large files .

Today 's announcement claims that terminating the Internet service is not one of the options .

If a customer feels they are being wrongly accused , they can ask for a review , which will cost them $ 35 according to the Verge .

The entire system will be overseen by an organization called the Center for Copyright Information , which includes content owners , such as the Motion Picture Association of America and Recording Industry Association of America , as well as individual members including Disney , Sony Pictures , Fox , EMI and Universal .

Each ISP will have a slightly different version of the system .

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A new warning system will let people know they are illegally downloading content

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First , the Internet providers will try to educate people about how to get content legally

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Customers could eventually face punishments such as a slowed Internet connection

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The Copyright Alert System has been four years in the making